dot hack:Glitch
by wmacelheran
Summary: After recieving a prototype VR helmet for CC Corp by accident, player Ichikuke is completely digitized and trapped in The World. With glitches popping up every where, can Ichikuke and the other .hack players we love fix the system in time?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Mac Anu… the newbie city. Been a while since I was here last._

Ichikuke walked down the main road, watching all the other players conversing. It was one of the things he liked to do to pass the time. His blue robe rustled as he moved, and his matching cap kept his messy brown hair down. He was hoping one of his friends would be here, especially Tsukasa, as the two had more in common than they like to admit. He also wished Tsukasa's girlfriend, Subaru, was here.

Ichikuke, or Ichi to his friends, turned and entered the town square. Judging by how many people were there, he guessed it had to be around mid-day in the real world. It never ceased to amaze Ichi how many people actually played "The World."

"Hey! Ichikuke!" he heard someone call. Ichi turned around to see a young man dressed in an orange outfit with a matching hat. He had teal colored hair and blue eyes. He was waving for Ichi to join him.

"How you doing Kite?" Ichi asked, coming onto the bridge Kite was standing on.

"I'm doing really well. I haven't encountered any Data Bugs recently. And I don't think Balmung has found anything either," Kite said.

"I see," Ichi replied, his head bowed in thought.

"Hey? You okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little bored. I was thinking of trying to level up in a little bit."

"Just be careful. You know what could happen if you die in here right?"

"Yeah I know. Oh, I just got a message from Bear. I need to go."

"Alright, see you later Ichi."

Ichi walked over to a spinning ring that was filled with a watery substance. He raised his staff and shouted "Theta Server!" Golden data rings surrounded Ichi, traveling up from his feet.

Seconds later, the golden rings had transferred him to a town that was placed on the sides of mountains. If you looked over the edges of the walkways, all you would see would be white clouds.

"Over here Ichikuke!" a somewhat deep voice called out.

Ichi looked up to see his friend, a blademaster named Bear, waving to him from an outcropping. Ichi could see three other people with him, but couldn't quite make out who they were. He could tell one was a wavemaster like himself, judging from the staff that was visible.

The outcropping wasn't too high, so Ichi sprinted to the base of the mountain and used his own staff to catapult himself up to their level. He landed cleanly and looked around. He saw that Tsukasa was there with Subaru, as well as Tsukasa's friend Mimiru. Ichi grinned slightly and sat down with them.

"How's it going guys?" Ichi asked.

"I'm alright," Mimiru said. "Been busy with homework though, so I haven't been able to log on as much."

"Me and Subaru are sharing an apartment now, that way we can work on our education together," Tsukasa said, pushing his tan and brown cap that matched his wavemaster outfit back on his head, revealing some of his white hair. Ichi paused in his thought for a moment, remembering that even though Tsukasa was a boy in "The World," he was actually a girl in the real world. He knew Tsukasa and Subaru made a good couple, even if it was slightly odd.

"And I've been busy with work as usual. I still need to catch up with BT," Bear said, rubbing his neck.

"What about you Ichi?" Subaru asked sweetly.

Ichi's head fell slightly. "Oh, you know… just wandering around, conquering a few dungeons and stopping PKers…

"Well, what about your current state?" Bear asked. "Been able to log out?"

"I already told you I'm not in a position to do that," Ichi said, looking at the ground. "I haven't been in front of a terminal since I put on that stupid prototype VR helmet. From what I've heard from the people who have been talking about it, my body just flat out disappeared, and we all know where it went."

"It got transported here," Tsukasa said quietly, knowing the story.

"It's still really hard to believe that CC Corp managed to invent something that completely digitized a person's body and brought them here," Bear said with a hand on his chin.

"Do you think Aura might have something to do with it?" Tsukasa asked.

"It's possible," Mimiru said. "We should ask Kite, he knows how to contact her."

Ichi looked up, "I saw Kite in Mac Anu. I think he was waiting for Orca."

Ichi stood up. He looked back at the rotating Chaos Gate he'd used to get here, and then looked back at the others.

"Anyone wanna come with me?" he asked.

"I'll come," Tsukasa and Subaru said at the same time. Subaru giggled as Tsukasa blushed and looked away.

_I need to have a talk with that boy/girl sometime,_ Ichi thought.

"Sorry, but I have a paper to finish for class tomorrow. I'll won't be back on till after class is over," Mimiru said, standing up. "See ya." Mimiru disappeared in a group of rising rings as she logged out.

"I need to go meet BT in the Lambada Server," Bear said, standing up as well. "I can walk you to the Gate though."

A little while later, Tsukasa, Subaru, and Ichi appeared in Mac Anu. Tsukasa was almost immediately run over by someone in a red and grey suit with a horned, skull-like helmet and glowing red eyes.

"Oh, I beg your… Tsukasa?!" the man said.

Tsukasa recognized the man and also remembered his new name.

"Tarnished Knight?" the wavemaster asked.

"Good to see you again," Tarnished Knight said, smiling. "And Lady Subaru as well of course."

Tarnished Knight bowed to Subaru before turning to Ichi.

"My apologies, but your name escapes me," the knight said.

"I'm Ichikuke, but my friends call me Ichi," the blue robed wavemaster said.

"Oh, so you're the one?"

"The…one?" Ichi asked, slightly confused.

"The one who got digitized."

"Oh, yeah I am."

"It's kind of hard to believe though. How could CC Corp transfer a body like that with a VR helmet?"

"Want proof?"

Before either Tsukasa or Subaru could stop him, Ichi brought out an Amateur Blade he'd recently acquired and slashed at his upper arm. He winced at the sudden pain, and brought a rag just under the wound, keeping the blood from getting out of hand. After seeing the stunned look on Tarnished Knight's helmeted head, Ichi performed a Repth spell and healed himself.

"I…it's true," Tarnished Knight said. "Have you reported this to CC Corp?"

"I had Balmung do it," Ichi said. "I got a reply a little while later from the Administration saying I'd somehow been shipped a prototype VR helmet that had malfunctioned. They're working on trying to solve it now. I haven't been able to log out in well over two months."

"I see. Well, let me know if I can be of any help," Tarnished Knight said, exchanging member addresses with Ichi. After that he bowed to Subaru and shook hands with Tsukasa before gating away.

"Well, shall we go find Kite?" Ichi asked.

They walked over to the bridge to find Kite sitting crossed legged on the railing, staring at the water.

"Hey Kite," Tsukasa said. Kite didn't respond.

"Kite?" Subaru said.

Ichi waved a hand in front of Kite's face. "Maybe he stepped away from the computer?"

Kite suddenly sighed and closed his eyes, then looked around and saw his friends standing around him.

"Oh, hey," he said, rubbing his neck. "Sorry, I had Yasu- I mean Orca on the phone."

Ichi chuckled. "I keep finding it interesting that people freeze when they take off the helmet. Some people get stuck in really odd poses."

They all glanced at someone who was standing on one leg, and had his hands out like he was holding a tea cup and a saucer.

"So, what do you guys need?" Kite asked.

"We wanted to know if you could get a message to Aura," Ichi said. "I need to find out if she knows anything about me not being able to log out."

"Of course I'll help!" Kite said jumping off the railing. "Come one, I know of only one place where I can send her a message."

Kite led them all to the Chaos Gate. He held up his right hand and shouted, "Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground!"

When the gold rings disappeared, the group found themselves standing on a bridge leading to an old cathedral. The bridge behind them had been completely destroyed, leaving noting to be seen but swirling grey clouds. Kite led them inside the cathedral and toward the alter.

"I liked this place better when the Aura statue was still here," Kite said.

They reached the chain fence that blocked further passage to the alter and Kite leapt over. Ichi was about to follow suit but Kite held up a hand.

"I'll take of this," he said.

Kite walked to the top of the alter and raised his right hand. Something began glowing around his wrist and the fabled Twilight Bracelet appeared. Five data prongs shot out and pointed upward. After several seconds the data prongs disappeared and the bracelet soon followed suit. Kite rejoined the others.

"It may take a while for her to respond," Kite said. "But when she does I'll let you know okay?"

"Thanks a lot Kite," Ichi said, shaking Kite's hand.

"Anytime."

Tsukasa and Subaru suddenly looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Did you just notice too?" Tsukasa asked.

"Yes, I didn't know we'd been here that long," Subaru said.

"What's the matter?" Ichi asked.

"We need to go," Tsukasa said. "It's already midnight and we both have a physics class in the morning."

"How's college going then?"

"Really well," Subaru said. "If we finish this year and we'll both have Master's degrees."

"That's great. Well, I don't want to hold you up any longer. Maybe I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"I hope so," Tsukasa said. "See you later."

Tsukasa and Subaru both left the cathedral and gated out. Kite turned to Ichikuke.

"What are you going to do now?" Kite asked.

"Probably go to sleep myself. I think I'll stay here. It's real peaceful and quiet. I'm surprised not many people come here."

"Yeah, word got around that there's nothing here so people stopped coming. Well, I'd better go to. Talk to you when I get a reply."

"See you Kite."

Kite left and Ichi walked to one of the old benches and lay down. Falling steadily toward sleep Ichi glanced at the alter.

_I hope Aura can help._

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_Sorry for the fast intro. Things will start to take a more… story-like pace after this. I just wanted to get something posted._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The soft music playing in the background masked the slight creak as the cathedral door opened and a girl walked in. She seemed rather depressed. The girl took a quick look around and proceeded towards the alter. She didn't see the wavemaster laying down in the second row.

Upon reaching the alter, the girl knelt down and folded her hands in prayer. She wore a fitted, purple body suit with yellow accent lines. The sleeves and leggings ended just before her elbows and knees. Two daggers were strapped to her cloth belt. She wore a head band to keep her long, brown hair out of her blue eyes.

Several minutes passed before the wavemaster began to stir. The girl took no notice, and she seemed to be in some kind of trance. Ichikuke sat up slowly, mindful of his stiff body. He stretched and opened his eyes. He saw the girl and hesitated. She seemed to be at peace, and he didn't want to disturb that.

Ichi sat watching her for a little while before she moved. She stood up and gave a short bow before turning around, eyes locking with Ichi's. Her expression changed from one of calm, to one of fear. Ichi stood up slowly, trying not to seem hostile. He left his staff on the ground.

"I apologize," Ichi said gently. "I didn't know anyone else came here. I thought I'd get some sleep before heading back to Mac Anu. My name is Ichikuke."

"Ichikuke?" the girl asked, a little calmer now. "Aren't you one of the people who can't log out?"

"Yeah… wait, did you say one of the people?"

"Yes. I also can't log out."

Ichi stared for a few seconds before collecting himself. "Have you reported to the administration?"

The girl looked at the floor. "No I haven't, I don't know anyone from the admin. I don't even know a system admin like Balmung of the Azure Sky."

Ichi's eyes lit up. "I know Balmung! He can help you. He helped me."

Ichi ran forward and grabbed the girl's hand saying "Come on!"

Too surprised to reply, the girl let Ichi lead her out onto the broken bridge. Once there, they exchanged member addresses and formed a party. Ichi warped them back to Mac Anu.

"Wow, it's busy today," Ichi said looking around. Mac Anu was filled with players.

"Oh that's right," the girl said. "I haven't told you my name Ichi. I'm Vera, the Twinblade."

"Nice to meet you Vera," Ichi said. "Give me a moment to contact Balmung."

"Okay."

Ichi closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he was smiling.

"Don't even need to contact him," Ichi said. "Balmung is already on his way."

"There you are Ichikuke," someone said. Ichi turned to see a man in white and blue armor walking toward them. His attached wings matched his white hair perfectly.

"Balmung!" Ichi cried. The wavemaster and the blademaster shook hands.

"I have something I wanted to share with you Ichikuke," Balmung said. "It's regarding the other version of 'The World' that's been out for almost 2 years now."

"Really? Something you wanted to share? That's kind of funny because I have a favor to ask of you Balmung," Ichi said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well then, why don't you go first," Balmung replied.

Ichi dragged Vera out from where she'd been hiding behind him. "This is Vera, I want you to send a report to CC Corp about her."

"What seems to be the problem?"

Ichi pushed Vera forward slightly, so she could try to explain. She twiddled her thumbs for a moment before glancing up at Balmung, who was giving her a polite smile. Vera turned beet red and hid behind Ichi again. Balmung raised his eyebrows and looked at Ichi again.

"She must be shy about meeting someone as famous as you Balmung," Ichi said. He looked over his shoulder at the girl holding onto the back of his robe. "Want me to explain Vera?"

The girl nodded, keeping her face buried in the back of his robe. Ichi turned his attention back to Balmung. "She's having a similar problem I'm having, she can't log out. Could you send a report to CC Corp?"

"Of course," Balmung said. "I'll do it right now, just give me a moment."

Balmung's character froze, an arm held out casually as if halfway through a conversation. Ichi chuckled and Vera finally relaxed enough to glance around.

"You okay back there?" Ichi asked with out looking.

"Y-yes," Vera replied. "I think so."

"Balmung's no one to be afraid of you know."

"I know, I'm just not very good around important people like that."

"Very well, you just stay back there, I'll handle everything."

"Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it."

Vera buried her face again at the exact same moment that Balmung started moving again.

"Okay, I have notified the president of Vera's situation and he should start an investigation soon," Balmung reported.

"Thanks Balmung," Ichi said, glancing back at Vera who was still hiding. "Now, what was it you had to tell me?"

"Ah yes, almost forgot. I received word not too long ago that CC Corp plans on merging the two different sets of servers that are keeping each version of the game running into one whole database. That way, there's only one version of the game they need to maintain."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Yeah, there's going to be a specific date where no one will be able to log in while they finalize the merging process."

"Wait, what about people like me and Vera? We can't even log out, what will happen to us?"

"The president is attempting to come up with a solution to that. Don't worry your little heads off, you'll be just fine. I hear they are even coming up with a way for you two to alter your characters to better fit into the new version of 'The World.' That's probably because wavemasters won't exist anymore. You should receive a message soon with instructions."

"Thanks a lot Balmung," Ichikuke said slightly.

"Not at all. Well, I need to get going. I have the final event to set up in this version of 'The World.' See you guys in 'The World R:2.'"

Balmung walked over to the Chaos Gate and warped away. Things stayed quiet for a few moments while Ichikuke pondered the possibilities of what CC Corp was going to do about him and Vera. It was then that he realized Vera was still hiding behind him.

"You can come out now," Ichi said over his shoulder. "Balmung left a few minutes ago.'

Vera looked around and gave Ichi an embarrassed smile. She stepped out from behind him and smoothed her hair.

"What are you going to be doing today?" Ichi asked, leading them to the bridge over the canal.

"I think I'll go meet up with some of my friends. I hope they're online though."

"I'm probably going to do the same thing. I hope Kite and Orca are around."

"You know Kite and Orca of the Azure Sea?"

"Yeah. I've been friends with them for a while. Ever since Kite found out I was trapped in the game anyway. He also introduced me to my friends Tsukasa and Subaru."

"You sure know a lot of famous people."

"Probably because of my situation. Would you like to meet them sometime?"

"I don't know. I might freeze up again and hide like I did with Balmung."

"Don't worry, everyone else is a lot less intimidating than Balmung. Well, except maybe Orca. But he's just a clown inside."

"Oh, well, maybe I will. If none of my friends are on, then can I meet them? If they aren't busy that is."

"Sure you can meet them. Just send me a message. I'll be on the Theta Server. That's where we like to hang out."

"Okay. I'll check it out. Talk to you later Ichi."

"See ya!"

Vera walked off, heading for the Chaos Gate. Wondering if his friends were at the usual hang out in Theta Server, Ichi soon followed. When he reached the Chaos Gate he shouted, "Theta Server!" and warped away.

He reached the cliff based city and headed out towards on of the bridges near the Grunty ranch. The old wooden planks creaked under his feet as he crossed. He was concentrating so hard on the planks that he never saw the person running up behind him, until she ran into him of course. The impact almost sent Ichi over the side, but the girl who had hit him caught him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean that!" the girl was saying, as Ichi bent over to steady himself. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Ichi said. Looking up at the girl, Ichi received a surprise. "BlackRose?"

The girl looked confused for a moment before realization hit. "Oh, you're Ichikuke. Kite's friend right?"

"Yep, that's me. I was just on my way to see if Kite was on or not."

"Really? Well, we can go together. I received a message from him saying that he'd like to meet up again, so I'm heading over there now."

"Alright then, let's go!"

With that, Ichikuke and BlackRose, who looked very much like Mimiru except for colors, set off in search of Kite.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Sorry again if this seems a little fast paced right now. I'm just trying to get everyone into the new version of "The World." Once that happens, things should slow down._


End file.
